Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders must address the political deadlock in Burma in order to strengthen the grouping, Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said today.

"This is the issue that we have to tackle among Asean leaders in order to strengthen Asean. When Asean is strong it will benefit everybody," he told reporters.

Thaksin will this weekend hold talks with Malaysian Prime Minister Mohamad Mahathir which will focus on the political tensions in Burma, where the military government has democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi in detention.

During the the two-day talks at Langkawi, a Malaysian resort island which lies near the Thai border, Thaksin will also meet with United Nations envoy to Burma Razali Ismail.

Razali, a former Malaysian diplomat, is the only outsider to have seen Aung San Suu Kyi since she was taken into detention in the wake of May 30 political violence between her supporters and a pro-junta gang.

Thaksin on Thursday offered to act as a mediator in the crisis, which has outraged the international community led by the United States and the European Union which have heaped more sanctions on impoverished Burma.

Junta told to release Suu Kyi

European and Asian foreign ministers meeting in Bali this week also urged the junta to "immediately release" the Nobel peace laureate and resume efforts towards national reconciliation and democracy.

Mahathir warned Sunday that Burma may as a last resort face expulsion from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) grouping if it continues defying world pressure to free the 1991 Nobel peace laureate.

The grouping usually avoids interference in other members' affairs, but the latest crisis in Burma has raised fears that the credibility of the entire Southeast Asian region could be at stake.

Thaksin said that apart from bilateral issues and efforts to push for a resolution in Burma, he and Mahathir would discuss efforts to establish closer economic cooperation within Asean.

Among bilateral issues, the two leaders are expected to discuss overland transport links for passengers and perishable goods, and plans to open new border checkpoints and extend the operating time of checkpoints.

They will also witness the signing of two memorandums of understanding on customs and the stock exchange. - AFP